IU To Entertain Butler (09-30-03)

9/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Sept. 30, 2003

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana (2-3-3, 0-0-1 Big Ten) hosts the Butler Bulldogs (4-4-1) on Thursday, Oct. 2, at Bill Armstrong Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. In addition to giving away Jerry Yeagley pins to fans, it is 'Buck-a-Brat Night' at Armstrong Stadium. Bratwursts from the IU Concession stand are only $1 all evening. Tickets for the match are $5 for adults and $3 for students and can be purchased at the gate.

In addition, live updates during the game will be available at Indiana's official athletic web site, IUHOOSIERS.COM.

About the Hoosiers
After what turned out to be a "no contest" match on Friday night, Indiana returns to the field on Thursday to face Butler. The Hoosiers played 66 and a half minutes of soccer last Friday night against Penn State. IU had a 2-0 lead when the game was suspended because of lightning. After a delay of more than two hours, the game was called off.

The last time Indiana played was on Sunday, Sept. 21. The Hoosiers finished in a 1-1 draw with Michigan State in their Big Ten Conference opener.

Junior Ned Grabavoy (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln Way) leads Indiana with 10 points on four goals and two assists this season and sophomore Brian Plotkin (Lisle, Ill./Naperville North) is second with seven points on two goals and three assists. Four other players have scored goals for the Hoosiers, including freshman Jacob Peterson (Portage, Mich./IMG Academy), who tallied his first career score to secure a 1-1 tie with the Michigan State.

Junior goalkeeper Jay Nolly (Littleton, Colo./Chatfield) owns an 0.91 goals-against average on the season. He has two shutouts and has collected 19 saves.

The Hoosiers appear in one of the four national soccer polls this week, coming in at No. 24 in the College Soccer News poll. IU is also receiving votes in the Soccer Times poll.

The Opponent
BUTLER: The Bulldogs enter Thursday's match with a 4-4-1 overall record and coming off a 3-1 loss to in-state opponent Evansville on Sunday. Butler, who plays in the Horizon League, has collected victories over Valparaiso, IPFW, Kentucky and Western Kentucky this season. The team's losses have come to then No. 2 Maryland, Louisville, Eastern Illinois and to Evansville. In addition, BU tied then No. 8 Creighton in its season opener.

Junior Evan Reinhardt has manned the goal in eight of Butler nine matches this season. Reinhardt, who began his career at IU during the 2000-01 season, sports a 1.34 goals-against average and has collected 38 saves.

Butler has attempted 112 shots to its opponents' 134 and averages 1.19 goals per game while allowing 1.41. The Bulldogs' shots on goal percentage is .451.

Joe Sochacki is in his third season as the program's head coach.

The Indiana-Butler Series
Indiana and Butler have played every season since 1994 and the Hoosiers own a 13-1 advantage in the series, including nine straight victories. The Bulldogs' lone win came in the regional semifinals of the 1995 NCAA Tournament in Bloomington. Butler earned a 1-0 victory to knock the Hoosiers of the tournament.

The Hoosiers defeated the Bulldogs, 2-0, in Indianapolis during the 2002 (Oct. 2) regular season. Current junior Ned Grabavoy and now departed senior Pat Noonan scored goals for IU as current junior goalkeeper Jay Nolly notched of his eight shutouts.

Shutout Streak vs. The Bulldogs
Indiana has not allowed a goal in its last four matches against Butler. In addition to last season's 2-0 win, the Hoosiers won 3-0 in 2001, 1-0 in 2000 and 5-0 in 1999. IU has out-scored 41-6 all-time and nine of its 14 wins were shutouts.

Indiana Penn State Rescheduled
The Indiana vs. Penn State match has been rescheduled for Saturday, Nov. 8, at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington. A time is still to be announced, pending the kickoff time for the IU football game with Illinois on that day. The football game time will be announced at least 12 days in advance of the game.

Indiana and Penn State started play on Friday, Sept. 26, but severe weather in the Bloomington area forced the game to be suspended in the 67th minute with the Hoosiers leading, 2-0. Since the game had not been played for the required 70 minutes for it to become official, officials waited more than two hours for the weather to clear before the game called was called off. By NCAA rules, a suspended game that is not resumed on the same day is considered "no contest." Therefore, IU and Penn State will play a full match on Saturday, Nov. 8. It will be Indiana's final regular season home match before the Hoosiers host the Big Ten Tournament Nov. 13, 14 and 16 at Armstrong Stadium.

Last Year Against the Bulldogs
In front of a crowd of 3,389 at Kuntz Stadium in Indianapolis, the fourth-ranked Indiana University men's soccer team recorded its sixth shutout in seven games, defeating intra-state rival Butler University, 2-0.

Indiana took a 1-0 lead at the 31:19 mark in the first half thanks to sophomore Ned Grabavoy. The crafty midfielder dribbled the ball down the right side, into the box and shook four defenders before he knocked the ball into the far right side of the net from six yards out.

The Bulldogs had an excellent opportunity of their own with about 18 minutes remaining in the first half. Butler senior forward Nick Pantazi set a pass to the middle of the Hoosier box where senior midfielder Michael Mariscalco's bicycle shot went high.

It appeared the Hoosiers would add a second goal less than 20 minutes into the second half. Grabavoy played a beautiful through ball to fellow sophomore Mike Ambersley. Ambersley, who was falling down, served the ball to the right to Noonan who took it left to right and into the back of the net. A foul was called on Butler for the contact with Ambersley just outside the penalty box, resulting in no goal.

IU was able to convert that second goal in the 74th minute. Senior Ryan Mack started the play as he served the ball from just past midfield to freshman Brian Plotkin on the right side. Plotkin crossed it to Noonan who scored it from eight yards out on the right side. The goal marked Noonan's sixth of the season and brought his point total to 18.

Once again, Indiana played suffocating defense en route to its second straight shutout. Sophmore Jay Nolly, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week, was solid again in goal.

The Bulldog defense was also up to the challenge for most of the evening. The score could have been a lot higher had it not been for the play of Butler keeper Grant Barrie. Barrie had 10 saves on the evening, the most to date by an IU opponent goalie.

Corner Kicks
 Both the IU and Butler rosters feature eight players that hail from the state of Indiana.
 Both of the Hoosiers' victories this season have come against teams from the state of California, the Cal Bears and the Fresno State Bulldgos
 Indiana has played four overtime matches this season and has an 0-2-2 record when going to extra periods.
 Nine Hoosier players have scored at least one point this season. Six of those players have converted at least one goal.
 Jay Nolly, Brian Plotkin, Jed Zayner and Julian Dieterle are the only players to start all eight of Indiana's matches. Drew Moor (six) and Vijay Dias (five) have started every match they have appeared in.
 Hoosier freshman Kevin Robson and Bulldog rookie Tim Toretta played high school soccer at Chaminade Prep in St. Louis.
 IU redshirt freshman goalie Matt Schlake and Butler freshman Jamie Gordon attended Carmel High School.
 A trio of Hoosier freshmen Charley Traylor, Chris Munroe and Greg Stevning and BU junior Cory Edgington graduated from Indianapolis North Central

Next Up
Indiana will step back into Big Ten Conference play when it travels to Ann Arbor to take on the Michigan Wolverines on Sunday, Oct. 5. Kickoff is set for 22 p.m. Elbel Field.